Gov. Rick Perry Recruiting Businesses on California Airwaves

Texas Governor Rick Perry, his voice now heard on radio stations across the state of California, is definitely stirring up emotions on the floor of the California State Capitol in Sacramento.

“Some may call it aggressive. I would call it desperate,” said California Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg.

"A lot of these Texans that come here, they don't go back. I mean who would want to spend their summers in 110 degree heat inside some kind of a fossil fuel air conditioner,” California Governor Jerry Brown said Tuesday afternoon.

California politicians are reacting to the latest effort by the Governor’s Texas Economic Development Division to entice California businesses to move to Texas. In a 30-second radio spot airing on radio stations in all major California cities, Governor Perry implores California businesses to head to greener pastures in the Lone Star State.

“Building a business is tough, but I hear building a business in California is next to impossible,” Gov. Perry said in the radio ad. “This is Texas Governor Rick Perry and I have a message for California businesses. Come check out Texas. There are plenty of reasons Texas has been named the best state for doing business for eight years running. Visit TexasWideOpenForBusiness.com and see why our low taxes, sensible regulations, and fair legal system are just the thing to get your business moving to Texas.”

He’s hoping for more Texas-bound Californians like Jeff Boaz.

“You're talking to a third generation San Diegan. So change was hard...to pull up stakes and head to Texas,” Boaz said.

He moved from his home in San Diego eight years ago for a better job with a Houston-based title company. Lower taxes and a more affordable housing market made the move worthwhile for Boaz and his wife.

"The heat and humidity take a little bit getting used to,” said Boaz. “ But you throw in things like no state income tax and a better economy, and here in Texas it's going great. We're real happy with the economic part of it."

“They’re coming to California because this is where it is,” said California Gov. Jerry Brown of Texans and other countries like Great Britain and China openly recruiting California businesses. “He’s not going to Lubbock or wherever those places are that make up that state. So I say ‘come on.’”

The most recent census already showed a mass migration from California to Texas well over 400,000 strong in the previous five years. The Texas Wide Open for Business website, which includes a “start” button for people to begin the process of moving to Texas, touts that Texas created more jobs in the last three years than any other state, including California.

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